Formula One leader Bernie Ecclestone has said that he is willing to meet opposition members leading up to this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, as anti-government protests continue to carry on in the country.

Ecclestone, who met with opposition group Al-Wefaq last year in both London and Bahrain, said that he was “happy to talk to anybody about this” according to Reuters’ Alan Baldwin.

“We don’t want to see trouble,” the British billionaire said. “We don’t want to see people arguing and fighting about things we don’t understand, because we really don’t understand… Some people feel it’s our fault there are problems.”

Indeed, multiple rights groups, as well as some British politicians, have called for either a boycott or outright cancellation of the Grand Prix. Allegations of the Bahrain government rounding up activists ahead of the race continue to persist, and the unrest in the country threatens to once again overshadow its biggest international sporting event.

“The race is going ahead and our position is quite simply to call it out for what it is — it is a political event which will serve to gloss over serious rights violations,” Human Rights Watch research Nicholas McGeehan said to the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, 1996 World Champion Damon Hill has demanded that FIA president Jean Todt take a stance on the Grand Prix itself. He also says that the F1 paddock doesn’t want any violence to ensue because of their presence.

“I think the vast majority of the people in Formula One would like to say ‘We don’t want to come here to make things worse for people,'”‘ Hill said to British reporters at last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix. ” ‘We would like you to enjoy Formula One, we think Formula One has lots of positive things to offer, but please don’t, on our behalf, round up people and brutalize them.’ “‘

Are you expecting a better than normal tax refund? Did you get a very nice bonus from your company due to the new tax cut?

Well, if you have a good chunk of change hanging around and potentially can be in Monaco on May 11, you can have a chance to bid on the 1993 McLaren-Ford MP4/8A that the late Ayrton Senna drove in — and won — that year’s Monaco Grand Prix.

We’re not just talking about any race winner. It’s also the same car Senna won his sixth Monaco Grand Prix, and the chassis bears the number six.

It’s also the same car Senna piloted to that season’s F1 championship (his third and final title before sadly being killed the next year) and is the first McLaren driven by Senna that’s ever been sold or put up for auction.

The famed Bonhams auction house is overseeing the sale of the car.

“Any Grand Prix-winning car is important, but to have the golden combination of both Senna and Monaco is a seriously rare privilege indeed,” Bonhams global head of motorsport, Mark Osborne, told The Robb Report.

“Senna and Monaco are historically intertwined, and this car represents the culmination of his achievements at the Monegasque track. This is one of the most significant Grand Prix cars ever to appear at auction, and is certainly the most significant Grand Prix car to be offered since the Fangio Mercedes-Benz W196R, which sold for a world record at auction.”

How much might you need? You might want to get a couple of friends to throw in a few bucks as well.